


Dive

by stelliferous_sky



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: First Dates, I'm just letting my imagination run wild, Keith (Voltron) is a Good Friend, M/M, Mid Season 8, No hate on Allura, Not Beta Read, Pining Keith (Voltron), Sort Of, he just wants lance to be happy, not meant to be a fix it, past allurance, please
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-13
Updated: 2018-12-13
Packaged: 2019-09-17 14:04:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16975965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stelliferous_sky/pseuds/stelliferous_sky
Summary: Keith takes Lance out for a drive after Lotor's return takes a toll on both Allura and Lance as their blooming relationship comes to a halt.





	Dive

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is not meant to bash Allurance or Allura. This is just a result of a sleepless night after reading theories on tumblr and having nothing better to do so please don't take it too seriously. It's very very self-indulgent.

  The Garrison is smaller than Keith remembers.

  When he first stepped foot in this place with Shiro, a bag of his few belongings slung over his shoulder, the compounds seemed to run forever in all directions. The buildings loomed over him, the courtyard yawned in front, the instructors and commanders towering and the ships were giant beasts roaring into the sky as older cadets did drills. Every turn of the corridor lead to a new place Keith had never seen before and he’d ended up in places he wasn’t meant to be. Iverson did not like that.

  Now, the Garrison is so small that it’s impossible to not run into the same people every single day. For example, Lance. Though, Keith has to admit it’s in a rather unexpected spot this time.

  Lance is sitting in one of the conference rooms in the left wing, the entire room dark except for the orange light coming off the screen from his tablet, casting ominous shadows on his face and reflecting off his glasses. Which is apparently a thing; Lance in glasses. He spent the entire time in space in contacts that he was wearing when he snuck out that fateful night with the intention of wooing girls. He now refuses to wear contact lenses, which Keith has mixed feelings about.

  Lance is lost in his own thoughts as he stares at whatever is on the screen, eyebrows slightly furrowed, and he doesn’t hear Keith invite himself in.

  “You’re still up,” Keith says, turning on the lights in the room.

  Lance hisses and squeezes his eyes shut before slowly peeling them open. He probably thinks he’s being subtle, the way he shuts off the tablet and puts one hand below the table, clearly holding something.

  Keith continues, “You need to sleep. There’s no telling when Haggar might make her next move and we have to be ready for anything.”

  Lance rolls his eyes, taking off his glasses. Keith resists the urge to put it back on his face. How did Shiro ever handle Adam when he was wearing glasses?

  “You’re one to talk,” Lance says. “What are you doing up?”

  “I left my tablet in the common room.” Keith holds it up before sticking it back into his pocket. “You?”

  Lance gives a shrug that says so much more than intended. He’s also not looking at Keith in the eyes, which means something serious. It’s not hard to guess what.

  Keith walks around the table to pull out a chair and sit next to Lance. It’s an awkward gesture and he knows it because halfway there, he realises exactly what he’s doing. That’s usually when things go sideways because he starts trying to resist his instincts. He’s made a habit of listening to them for a reason.

  “Look, Lance,” he starts, swallowing thickly. “I know it’s none of my business but I’m sorry about what happened.”

  Lance shrugs again. “It’s no big deal. It’s not like I was planning a second date or anything before Lotor showed up again.”

  Keith really can’t tell whether he tastes the salt or the bitterness more but he definitely feels the hurt in those words. He definitely remembers how happy Lance was when he and Allura went off, both dressed up so nicely. He remembers Lance’s face when Allura and Lotor talked through the video feed a few days ago; crestfallen and defeated like that was just a confirmation of what he already knew.

  It struck a nerve so deep in Keith’s chest that he had to leave the room. Maybe the others took it as anger, maybe they didn’t realise it was so much more than that.

  “You were going to take her out again?” Keith prompts. “Where?”

  Lance brings up the hand from under the table and unfolds his fists. Out comes two scrunched up movie tickets. Keith takes ones and straightens it up. The date is today, three hours ago.

  Keith knows the problem is much deeper than Lance not going on this date, knows this is out of his control but he gives in to his instincts and says, “Let me take you out.”

  Lance looks at him, eyes flying wide. “What?”

  Keith swallows, heart thudding so fast his entire chest shakes and rattles. “Yeah. Come on.”

  He stands, the chair moving back with a grating noise too loud in a quiet compound. Lance stares up, slack-jawed and doe-eyed.

  “Right now?”

  “ _Yes,_ Lance. Right now. Are you coming?”

  Lance finally seems to understand what Keith is saying as he starts spluttering, throwing his hands in the air. “It’s almost midnight! What was that you were saying about sleeping?”

  “Are you saying you can?”

  “Well, no-”

  “Do you really want to be alone right now?”

  “No but-”

  “But?”

  Lance closes his mouth but still stares up incredulously. Then he looks at the other ticket left on the table, at his tablet and sighs dramatically. “Sure. I’ll let you take me out. You look like you’re gonna murder me if I don’t so why not?”

~

  There’s a place over the hills in the desert, just a few minutes from Keith’s old house. It’s not a remarkable place; it’s not particularly pretty or even a good place to stargaze. It’s mostly just plains with sand and occasional boulders. But it is a special place even if it no longer bears the marks.

  Keith tows Lance onto his hoverbike and takes him there. Lance holds onto Keith’s waist but nowhere near as tight as he would like. It’s better than nothing and Lance seems to genuinely enjoy the ride there if his small smile is anything to go by so Keith takes what he gets.

  “Is this it?” Lance asks as he looks around, pulling the helmet off which leaves his hair tousled and tempting.

  Keith nods, taking the helmet from Lance to hook on the mirrors. The soft moonlight covers the barrenness in a pale blue haze, making it at least a little bit better than it does during the day, if a little windier. The stars peek out over wispy clouds but the view is really nothing that impressive. Maybe Keith is just used to counting these stars.

  “What is this place?”

  “It’s where my parents met when my mum crashed and dad found her.”

  “Ah,” Lance says like he’s just solved a great mystery. “So this is where you began.”

  Keith scowls at him. “Don’t say it like that. It’s weird.”

  “No, it’s romantic. It’s a good place for a date.”

  Now Keith chokes. Yes, it was his idea to take Lance out but he never said it was a _date._ This is just more like a friend taking another friend out to cheer them up. Keith can’t ask Lance out when he’s clearly not emotionally ready to move on. Plus, it makes him look really desperate.

  “I’m joking. Don’t go dying on me,” Lance says with a pat on Keith’s back. “But really though, thanks for bringing me out here, Keith. It’s nice.”

  “You’re welcome, Lance. You looked like you needed to get away.”

  Lance heaves out another heavy sigh before he leans against the bike beside Keith, staring at their feet. Lance almost had it all and within two weeks, it slipped away. The exhaustion shows in the circles beneath his eyes and the faint signs of tiny hairs above his upper lip. The normal Lance would never be seen with ungroomed facial hair or eye-bags.

  “Lance,” Keith begins unsurely. “Have you talked to Allura?”

  He nods. “Yeah. She kind of broke up with me. She said it’s not fair on me if we became a thing and she’s still hung up on Lotor, especially now that we know he’s still alive. I mean, I don’t blame her. I get it. I get that it’s not easy to get over someone like that. I was in the same spot too.”

  _Was?_ Keith doesn’t question the phrasing of his words because he doesn’t want to say the wrong things but he doesn’t know what the right thing is either. So he says nothing and lets Lance choose when he wants to break the thick silence again.

  Lance doesn’t speak for a long time. He stares and stares at the sand and the stares become frowns. _Tell me what you’re thinking_ , Keith wants to say. He always wants to say it. So many times he notices something off about Lance’s expression in the corner of his eyes, something that says Lance’s thoughts are different to what he’s showing. Never once has Keith dared to say it. He still doesn’t for fear of breaking something fragile between them, crossing a line not meant to be crossed.

  “You know what’s funny?” Lance says like he’s about to say something _not_ funny at all. “I kind of don’t feel that bad. Yeah, I’m really disappointed that this could’ve worked out between us and it didn’t. But I keep thinking that I’m glad we’re still friends and we still have each other.”

  Keith hums, unsure how to respond or even how to understand what Lance is saying. “Maybe after everything is over, you and Allura can try again,” he whispers.

  Lance shakes his head. “No, I don’t think Allura and I are meant to be.”

  It’s such a plain and simple statement that Keith takes a moment process it. Where’s the heartache in Lance’s voice? The pain on his face? Why the serenity and the smile like Lance just accepts the fact that the universe has fucked him over so many times?

  “Lance, you deserve each other. You make each other happy and you’re just going to call it quits?”

  “Keith, I called quits a long time ago,” Lance snaps, not harshly but certainly with an edge as he looks at Keith. “I gave up the first time Lotor dropped into our lives and probably before that. Even when we got back to earth, I didn’t really hope for too much because Allura needs friendship more than a relationship. It just kind of stings a little bit to feel vindicated.”

  Keith sighs. His arms almost come up to fold themselves over his chest but he stops them, keeping them firmly by his side. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Never thought I’d be talking to you of all people about my love life but it actually made me feel better. Huh.”

  Keith doesn’t take it as an insult, more concerned with other things. “So what now?” And is it wrong for him to sound a little hopeful? He’s certainly never hoped for anything like this before because it’s not worth the pain. But doesn’t he deserve some sort happiness, even if it comes from misplaced hope?

  Lance shrugs and straightens, pushing himself off the parked bike. He smiles lob-sidedly. “I keep moving on. We’ve got a war to win anyway and maybe afterwards I’ll find someone some day. If I survive.”

  Keith returns the smile. “You will,” he promises. “I’ll drag your ass out of death even if means cradling you in my arms again.”

  Lance laughs, slinging an arm around Keith’s neck like they hadn’t just been talking about a messy breakup ten seconds ago. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

  Keith grins and digs his elbow into Lance’s side. “You, son of a-”

  “Come on, Keith. I took Allura to a beautiful park for a first date. You bring me to the middle of nowhere. God, step up your game if you want another date.”

  Keith feels his face grow warm but he doesn’t really care. For the first time a while, Lance smiles like he actually means it and that’s enough for Keith. _It always is._ “What do you want to do?”

  A devious grin spreads across his face. “Remember that cliff you drove off the night we rescued Shiro? Let’s do that again.”

  Keith grins back just as widely. “You gotta hold on tight though.”

  Lance winks and laughs into the sky. “Sure, Keith.”

  Keith throws him the helmet. When they get on this time, Lance holds onto him tighter, his chin over Keith’s shoulder.

  “Lance?” Keith says as he starts the engine, feeling the roaring in his chest.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m always here if you need me.”

  Lance murmurs, “Thank you.”

~

  When Keith dives off the cliff, Lance’s arms wind tighter as he hoots into the air. There’s the moon and the stars and the wide open desert filled with both their laughter as they hang in the air. The drop doesn’t feel like a plummet to doom but rather a fall into something warmer, softer and happier.

  Something _Lance._

**Author's Note:**

> My Tumblr is @hano-does-fandoms if anyone wants to come scream at me.


End file.
